DA: Breasts, Toe Found Missing From Body; Another Charge Added For Tulsa Suspect

Shaynna Sims initially was charged with five felonies after reportedly cutting a corpse at a funeral home, but a sixth was added after authorities found body parts missing upon cremation.

Thursday, May 14th 2015, 7:24 pm

By: News On 6

DA: Breasts, Toe Found Missing From Body; Another Charge Added For Tulsa Suspect

A sixth felony charge has been added against a woman who reportedly disrupted a Tulsa funeral, cut the face of a dead body and stole shoes out of the casket. Upon cremation, it was discovered that the deceased woman's body was further mutilated and her breasts and a toe were missing, documents say.

Shaynna Sims, aka Shaynna Smith, was charged with five felonies last week – first-degree burglary, larceny of a person, concealing stolen property, unauthorized dissection of a corpse and interrupting a May 1 funeral of a woman named Tabatha.

Sims is free on bond on those charges, but the new motion filed on Thursday says the state is requesting a higher bond to accompany the additional charge of removing body parts.

We reported last week that witnesses at the funeral home said they saw Sims with her hands in the casket and Tabatha's body had smeared makeup, a cut on the face and the shoes were missing.

5/4/2015 Related Story: Woman Arrested For Dissecting Corpse At Tulsa Funeral Home

Sims was arrested after the funeral. Police said they found her with a folding knife and hair that matched the hair on Tabatha's corpse. They also found scissors on Sims, a box cutter knife and "various pieces of makeup,” reportedly from the body, a report says.

New documents filed by the Tulsa County District Attorney state that when the body later was taken for cremation, “it was discovered the defendant further mutilated the deceased and has subsequently been charged with unauthorized removal of body parts from a dead body.”

Sims “crudely cut and removed a toe” from Tabatha's body and removed her breasts during a viewing at the funeral home, a motion to strengthen bond states.

5/6/2015 Related Story: Family Of Tulsa Woman Attacked In Casket Afraid For Children's Safety

Tabatha was a longtime friend of Sims' husband. Her family told News On 6 she died of natural causes stemming from a long illness.

At the time of her arrest, Smith was already on a deferred sentence for assaulting another woman at the Tulsa County Courthouse in February. Court records show Smith also was charged with child neglect that same month.

Records show that Sims' husband filed a petition for a protective order on Thursday. According to the petition, the husband says Sims has not been in contact with him since her release from jail on Monday, but he is making the request for the extended safety of himself and his daughter.

5/7/2015 Related Story: Tulsan Charged With Cutting Corpse At Funeral Caught On Video Attacking Another Woman

"We are outraged and sickened," the victim's sister in law told News On 6 in a statement on Thursday night. "Every time we think this nightmare is over, something else comes out. It's a never-ending, evil nightmare."